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Kingston: Go-to guy for folks in a bind

Savannah Morning News

CHRIS VIOLA/The Times-Union--09/30/08 -- U.S. Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA) speaks at the Kiwanis Club of Brunswick, Georgia meeting during a visit with the club, Tuesday, September 30, 2008. Kingston was scheduled to speak about the energy crunch with the club but much of his time was taken up taking about the proposed $700 billion bailout of the banking and investment industry. Kingston is in Georgia talking with his constituents during a recess by the house for a the Jewish holy day of Rosh Hashanah and will return to Washington on Thursday with the rest of congress to continue working on the bailout legislation. (The Florida Times-Union, Chris Viola)

Carl Elmore

Jack Kingston, Rep., U.S. Rep. District 1, Georgia

Two days before Tony Center left on an overseas trip in 2005, he discovered his passport had expired.

The Savannah Democratic party leader was in a panic.

That is, until he called U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston's office.

Center received a new passport the next day; the Republican lawmaker called personally to make sure he had.

"His office could have blown me off as a partisan adversary," Center said. "Instead, they took care of me."

This year, the Savannah congressman helped overcome bureaucratic mixups that held up a retiring soldier's pension.

That case and Center's illustrate how Kingston has become known as a go-to guy for folks in a bind during his nearly 16 years in the House.

He's also known for one of the House's most conservative voting records. He is anti-abortion, wants to win in Iraq and says off-shore drilling is one of several ways to wean America off foreign oil.

That usually sits well with voters. But with recession looming, Democrat Bill Gillespie hopes to convince them Kingston's business-friendly posture is part of the problem.

"Nobody remembers how you voted," Kingston said Dole told him. "But they remember you for straightening out their brother-in-law's problem or helping a widow with Medicare."

Kingston argues that his skills are more valuable now than ever.

"Especially in tough economic times," he said, "you need someone who knows the district and has a record of getting things done."

In addition to helping constituents from afar, Kingston makes sure they know him personally.

And that's not counting the 10,000 or so people who receive his Christmas cards or the hundreds who chow down at his annual barbecues.

Whether it's a funny speech for Bosses Day or a serious one at a Rotary Club, Kingston is up for it. He's one of a few Republicans who accept invitations to speak at local meetings of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

Democratic State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, president of the group, says that wins Kingston few, if any, votes, certainly not Brooks'.

"But Jack shows us respect and rises above politics to do the right thing," the Atlanta Democrat said. "It speaks to character."

Kingston also sponsors a float in the annual Tybee Island Beach Bums parade, sometimes described as the world's biggest water fight.

He walks the route and gets drenched by hoses, squirt guns and water balloons, sometimes spraying back with a "Super Soaker."

"It shows he's down to earth," said Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman. "How often do you get to squirt your congressman with a water gun?"

Rising star

Kingston won his seat in Congress in 1992 after eight years in the Georgia House.

His star rose after the Republicans won control of the U.S. House in 1994. He ascended to No. 5 in the GOP pecking order, finally losing a bid to climb another notch after his party lost its majority in 2006.

In 2005, Knowlegis, a Washington, D.C., communications firm, rated him as the 42nd most influential of the 435 House members. This year, he's down to 178th, largely due to Democratic control.

Kingston has been a sort of Pied Piper for congressional use of new media. He was one of the first House Republican bloggers, became a regular on Comedy Central, and talked up pod-casting and interactive Web sites.

Meanwhile, as a member of the defense subcommittee of the purse-strings-controlling Appropriations Committee, he's a magnet for campaign cash.

Never seriously challenged for re-election, he's funneled more than $1 million to other GOP candidates.

Last year, he won more than $101 million in earmarks - spending items sought by individual members. That total ranked 13th in the House. Many of his earmarks funded projects at Hunter Army Airfield and Fort Stewart.

He has taken some flak because much of his campaign cash has come from intended recipients of earmarks he has requested - or from their lobbyists.

But Kingston said there is no link between his earmarks and contributors. "If there is a project that comes to us ... and there is local support for it, then we are going to support it," he said.

Tybee Mayor Buelterman doesn't have any complaints.

He credits Kingston for winning $6.3 million to help his city rebuild its badly eroded beaches.

Federal officials had balked at funding the project. But not after a Kingston-sponsored federal study identified federal dredging in the Savannah shipping channel as the main cause of erosion.

"He kept following through on this," the mayor added. "He stayed on it. He really delivered."

Jack Kingston

Age: 53.

Education: B.S., University of Georgia.

Occupation: Member, U.S. House of Representatives; insurance agent (1979-1992).

Political experience: Georgia House of Representatives (1984-1992); U.S. House since 1992 - serves on Appropriations Committee; formerly chaired an appropriations subcommittee.

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